Unemployed mum's despair after Jobseeker benefits are axed

Former business owner Angie Godwin sent in an application for an assistant manager’s job at a charity shop

Angie Godwin is in dispute with the Department of Work and Pensions over her JSA

An unemployed mum of three claims her Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) was axed after she applied for a job officials said was beyond her.

Former business owner Angie Godwin sent in an application for an assistant manager’s job at a charity shop.

She says staff at Reading Job Centre decided the 37-year-old was not qualified and stopped her benefit, without notifying her.

Now Ms Godwin, who has the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, has had to re-apply for her JSA.

She said: “I want to work, I’m trying to find a job. I had applied for a job as assistant manager at a charity shop two days a week.

“When I left school I worked in a shop for about a year and then started a business where I was office manager and had a few people working for us.

“But when I applied for this job my benefits were sanctioned because somebody believed I wasn’t qualified for the job I applied for. It wasn’t until a week later they told me the reason.”

Ms Godwin, of Aveley Walk, Katesgrove, has since been given conflicting information.

One job centre official said her JSA was stopped after she failed to supply documents and another said Ms Godwin owes money for a social fund loan, which she claims she has never had.

After visiting the job centre on Friday, August 30, Ms Godwin said: “I’m still being told completely different stuff from every person I speak to.

“I’m still completely up in the air about whether they are accepting my claim.”

Ms Godwin, who has three daughters aged nine, 10 and 13, has had to live on £160 tax credits per week for the last three weeks.

She said she is now being chased for water and gas bills and Council Tax payments, previously covered by her JSA.

Ms Godwin said: “My kids need school shoes and jumpers, but how I’m supposed to be living and surviving I don’t know.”

Katesrove councillor Matt Rodda has taken up Ms Godwin’s cause.

He said: “It seems completely unfair and wrong to penalise job hunters for showing initiative and applying for jobs they are qualified for. Unemployment benefits should be there as a safety net and job centres should then be doing all they can to get people back into work, not penalising job hunters who are trying to get back to work.”

Yesterday, Ms Godwin said she has now started receiving JSA again, but at a reduced rate of £63 a week. A statement from the Department of Work and Pensions said: “We’ve been in contact with Ms Godwin to explain the status of her benefits and the fact that a claimant’s Jobseeker’s Allowance payment can be reduced if they work part-time.”

However, Ms Godwin said the part-time job she had only lasted three weeks and ended on July 23 because she could not continue it with her medical condition.